Showing papers on "Social dynamics published in 1981"

The social context of modeling

Abstract: Social learning theory assumes that modeled behavior serves as information which the observer acquires via symbolic representations rather than specific stimulus-response associations, it would appear, then, that this process should follow rules governing social communication. it is also to be expected that the social context and the characteristics of both the social situation and the model will affect modeling behavior. It is posited in this paper that such influences operate through three cognitive processes: attention-instigation, behavior discrimination, and information via model characteristics.

What the friends of the peasants’ are and how they pose the question of the peasantry

Abstract: In the previous article Mukaru Ng'ang'a sets as his task the investigation into what is happening to the Kenyan peasantry, and what has happened to it in the past. This task, he argues, is necessary in order to understand the social dynamicsof rural life. After all, it is only by first understanding the social structureof rural life that we can know what are the possible social dynamics and how they effect, or are affected by, the history of the Kenyan social formation as a whole. That way of stating the problem is important for political practice. Unless the kind of society being dealt with is known, all types of political programmes for the liberation of the peasantry may be proposed which may be Utopian, adventurist or simply demagogic. But, in order to understand the structureof that peasant society, a theoryof that structure is required. For theory provides the proper tools of analysis for dissecting social phenomena so as to understand them. If anything, theory gives us the ability to shape question...